Dynamic MAC Address and BSS Color Mapping for Wireless Privacy
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing wireless communication systems face security and privacy issues due to unauthorized wireless sensing, where attackers can infer spatial information from unsolicited transmissions, compromising individual privacy.
Innovation Solution
Implement a method to obfuscate device identification information in wireless transmissions by varying the association of MAC addresses and BSS colors across authorized devices, ensuring only authorized devices can decode the transmissions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If device identification information (MAC addresses, BSS colors) is transmitted in wireless transmissions, then authorized devices can identify and process transmissions from specific sources, but unauthorized devices can perform wireless sensing to infer spatial information and compromise privacy
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the association between device identification information and actual devices variable over time. The network device dynamically changes which device ID is associated with which physical device across different time periods, preventing attackers from reliably inferring spatial information while maintaining functional identification for authorized devices
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the parameter of device association mapping over time. By varying the mapping between device identification information and physical devices across different time periods, the system alters the fundamental parameter of which device corresponds to which identifier, thereby preventing consistent wireless sensing analysis
2Productivity
If multiple APs share the same BSS ID to form a virtual BSS, then multi-AP coordination becomes transparent for STAs and network performance increases, but attackers can more easily track transmissions across APs for sensing purposes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extends the dynamic association principle to multi-AP virtual BSS scenarios. Even though multiple APs share the same BSS ID for coordination, the device identification information associated with each AP varies dynamically over time, preventing attackers from tracking device locations across different APs while maintaining the performance benefits of virtual BSS
3Object-affected harmful factors
If device identification information is varied to prevent wireless sensing, then privacy and security are enhanced, but authorized devices may have difficulty consistently identifying transmissions from specific sources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs feedback mechanisms where the network device monitors and manages the variable associations between device identification information and physical devices. This feedback loop ensures that authorized devices can still reliably identify transmissions through controlled variation, while attackers cannot exploit the variations for sensing purposes
Data Source
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AI summary
Based on secured communication in a wireless communication system, a wireless communication device (10, 11) determines a variable association of device identification information to one or more wireless communication devices (10, 11). Based on the determined association, the wireless communication device (10, 11) controls processing of one or more wireless transmissions comprising the device identification information.